|
Saturday, March 29, 2003
Glo lauds military for Sayyaf hostage rescue
MANILA -- An Indonesian sailor held captive by Abu Sayyaf gunmen escaped during a military offensive, a development that President Arroyo considers as a triumph for government soldiers mounting an all-out campaign against the guerillas.
Two kidnapped Indonesians remain unaccounted for following the recovery of 27-year-old Julkipli, the military said Friday.
Authorities said they could not independently confirm Julkipli's report that one of his colleagues died in captivity.
Interviewed in San Jose Antique, Arroyo said there had been no let-up in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf but this was not highlighted since the focus of media coverage was on the Iraq crisis.
Troops engaged an Abu Sayyaf unit in a gun battle near the town of Patikul on Jolo Island late Thursday, allowing Julkipli, 27, to give his captors the slip, ending nine months in captivity, Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya said.
Several hours later, a Marine unit found Julkipli wandering near a highway in Jolo, a hotbed of the Abu Sayyaf group more than 900 kilometers south of Manila, Abaya said.
"I am okay. But it's really hard to be in the mountains with the rebels," Julkipli, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said in halting English as he hobbled into a waiting ambulance shortly after he was airlifted to the regional military headquarters in Zamboanga.
"I feel happy. I ate plenty of bananas, fruits, fish," he said when asked how he survived his ordeal.
Good shape
Before he was whisked away for a medical examination, he said he desperately wanted to talk to his family in Semarang on Java Island.
Julkipli appeared haggard in a maroon shirt and loose-fitting pants, but doctors said he appeared to be in good shape except for some scratches and wounds sustained in the jungle.
Julkipli was among four Indonesian sailors seized by the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen from a coal barge in southern Philippine waters in June last year.
A second hostage also escaped, while Julkipli told the military that another hostage, Muntu Jacobos Winowatan, was believed to have died after being hit by crossfire during a military offensive in February.
The fate of the fourth, Pieter Lerrech, remains unknown and the military said it could also not independently confirm if Winowatan had been killed.
"We are happy to hear of his release and we pray that the others are also safe," said Andang Pramana at the Indonesian embassy. "We thank the Philippine government for this," he said.
Four Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and two soldiers were killed in clashes on Jolo Thursday, and "operations are continuing," Abaya said, adding that the gunmen were exhausted and were running low on ammunition and food.
Deadline
Troops had stepped up operations against the Abu Sayyaf on Jolo in recent weeks after Arroyo in February gave a 90-day deadline for the military to crush the group.
The Abu Sayyaf is a small group of Islamic militants linked by both Manila and Washington to the al-Qaeda network of alleged terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.
"I said that they should neutralize the Abu Sayyaf in 90 days. So, away from the attention of media, because all your attention is on Iraq, they had been conducting their offensives in Sulu and this is one of the fruits of that offensive. That's very good," she said.
The 90-day ultimatum was issued by Arroyo on February 28 and would lapse in May.
She said she is not sure when the remaining hostages would be rescued or recovered, explaining "not everyday is within one's authority and jurisdiction and control."
"It's a great day for all this to happen to Sulu...we got the report that they rescued the Indonesian hostage. So, I'm glad that the offensive has been going on in Sulu," she later said at the Villamor Airbase.
Julkipli, who was to be presented to Arroyo Friday morning, is still undergoing debriefing.
Arroyo lauded the soldiers for their triumph, adding their continued achievements and their "winning the war" will "certainly help win the peace." Sunnex Luzon/With AFP
(March 29, 2003 issue)
Want Sun.Star news on your mobile phone? Click here.
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Not SARS, docs say; patient discharged today